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Afghanistan, 10 Years In

BOSTON — October 7 marks the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. WGBH "Morning Edition" host Bob Seay spoke with London correspondent Laura Lynch the day after people took to the streets of Kabul demanding that U.S. and other international forces leave the country. This is the first of a series of conversations with reporters from “The World,” a coproduction of WGBH, PRI and the BBC.

Seay: Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Afghanistan's capital yesterday. . . what does that say about what effect our presence has had?

Lynch: There are people in the country who do not like the presence of foreign troops, who have memories of times when American troops and others have done airstrikes in the country and killed civilians in the course of doing that. So of course there is resentment and people who feel as though this is an occupation. But there are others who very much appreciate the presence of American troops, who have seen it as a liberation for their country and have seen Americans pave the way for trying to make some reforms in the country and some change.

Seay: How would you say the scene in Afghanistan has changed?

Lynch: In Kabul in 2007 the situation was relatively secure. You could walk the streets quite easily without tremendous fear of either kidnapping or of suicide bombings. This time around, I’ve got to tell you, I saw so many more blast walls around buildings. I met people who talked all the time about their fear of a suicide attack coming their way. And children, too. Children are taught openly about the risk of suicide attack.